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29 Mackenzie Street, Homebush 2143 Australia

 

 

 

 

 Despite being endangered and surviving primarily in one last reserve, Acacia pubescens, Sydney's Downy Wattle still puts on a beautiful display in winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puddles of muddy water in bushland after rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now extinct from the area, Diuiris maculata, Strathfield's former beautiful Leopard Orchid is unlikely to come back, without the enthusiasm of locals, and good horticulturalists. Normally found in open woodland on clay soils, it grows to about 30 cm from a tuber. It sends up a shoots to the surface in autumn. The leaves grow rapidly in late autumn and early winter as the rains set in. It flowers beautifully as shown here for about two weeks, and is pollinated by native bees. It dies back in summer. The orchid seed is like fine dust and has no stored food source to aid germination and early growth. It depends on the help of a micorrhizal fungus for seedling development. The presence of this fungus relies on other suitable plants, soil, and water conditions. (Transplanting an orchid from the bush will kill it. It is also illegal to take plants out of parks and reserves in Australia.) The Leopard Orchid pictured here, was one of the few remaining specimens in Auburn, and was photographed in September 2003. The orchid tuber is edible, and was part of the aboriginal diet. It was a popular snack with (European) settler children in the 1870s. They were known as boyams, and taste rather sweet, with a slight taste of raw potato.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wombat's favourite plant, Lomandra longofolia is pictured here. Known as Mat Rush, it is often used in regenerating environmentally degraded areas, and requires no water once established. The flowers were eaten by aborigines, and the white succulent leaf bases are also pleasant to eat. The stong fibrous leaves were also used to make net bags by aborigines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environment Activities

Volunteer girl with a Clean-Up Australia rubbish bag.

The monastery is very pleased to encourage, and support volunteering by young  people within the community. 

Clean-Up Australia Day

We are very fortunate to live in this magnificent country, Australia. Far away from the troubles of older, more populous nations, we started with a very clean environment. Yet the 2009 Clean-Up Australia Day Council statistics show that Australians are the second highest producers of waste, per person, in the world ! Our environment cannot remain clean, and our drinking water so pure, if we do not use our resources wisely.

Clean-Up Australia Day, is one of 365 days, where we can show how proud we are of our country, by bending our ego, and bending our back, to reduce, re-use, and recycle rubbish, in our neighbourhood and community.


With the help of our wonderful Tuition Class students, and YBS members, and in conjunction with the Strathfield Council, the monastery has participated in the Clean-Up Australia Day activity since 1991. We have regularly fielded up to 50 volunteers, on the first Sunday morning in March. They pick up more than 30 bags of rubbish from the Homebush and Flemington areas. Why don't you help in your community ?

Clean Up Our Climate and Global Warming

Greenhouse or Global Warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the earth’s atmosphere. The gases act like a thick blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. These gases are created when we burn fossil fuels in power plants, aeroplanes, and in our cars. It is also caused by the loss of trees, forests, and land clearing. This Warming is changing weather patterns, causing glaciers to melt, rising seas, and more severe storms, droughts, & bushfires. Average temperatures are expected to rise by the end of the century. 

Australians are the highest per capita producers of Greenhouse gases in the world at 27.5 tonnes per person ! 

There are seven worthwhile actions students can do, to help reduce Global Warming.

1. Educate your parents and others, about Global Warming. Explain how Global Warming is causing weather changes, affecting Australia’s rainfall, and agricultural production, and explain the ways everyone can reduce their carbon footprint.

2. Save energy ! Turn off your computer, TV, air-conditioning, and lights and other appliances, when you are not using them. Buy products that are the most energy and water efficient in (1) their manufacture, (2) their use, and (3) their disposal and recycling.

3. Suggest to your parents (or strata) install a solar hot water heater if you don’t have one already.

4. Is the weather too cold ? Rather than use a heater, put a jumper on, or go outside and do some exercises to warm up, preferably with your brother or sister ! Is the weather too hot ? Rather than using energy intensive air-conditioning, use a fan. Try planting trees near your house or unit. The shade of a tree can provide a 120 C cooling factor in the hot summer months ! 

5. Need to go somewhere ? Tell your parents you can walk, cycle, or take public transport. 

6. Where appropriate, help re-vegetate land-cleared areas to produce more oxygen, and absorb CO2. Why not help re-vegetate your neighbourhood, preferably with some of Sydney's 2,000 indigenous plants ?

7. Global warming is the result of too many humans using polluting energy sources, polluting manufacturing processes, and land-clearing for agricultural crops. As the former Premier of NSW, Bob Carr said (ABC interview 10-Dec-09), “Some  politicians think that Australia’s population should be encouraged to rise to 35 million. Where is the community discussion about this ? Where is the Environmental Impact Statement for this ? Some people claim that the net benefit of migrants is to stimulate the economy. - Tell that to the city people stuck in traffic jams, and the school children who have to breathe polluted air, because there are too many cars on the road next to their school. There is not an infinite amount of water available to Sydney. How will this large population survive ? We do not have infinite agricultural resources in Australia. There needs to be population limits, and the community needs to recognize this.”   Discuss with your peers what you think Sydney’s and Australia’s population should be.

The average Australian household produces 15 tonnes of greenhouse emissions per year, but through measures such as switching to green power, recycling more, using public transport, installing a water saving showerhead and energy efficient devices, it is possible for you to cut your household greenhouse emissions by at least 25 per cent.  Go for it !

Picture of a young boy volunteer behind a "Don't Litter" sign.

 

Botany, Bio-diversity, and Bush-regeneration activities, with Strathfield Council

When European settlers arrived to Australia, they knew nothing about the indigenous Australian plants. There was little dialogue with the aborigines. So they brought and grew the plants that they knew about from overseas, both for food, for flowers, and for other agricultural products. 

Since then, the plants brought and cultivated here from overseas, by all cultures of migrants, have now substantially displaced local plants, and reduced the food supplies for many native animals. This is how some 30% of Australian mammal species have become extinct, and why only 5% of Australia's indigenous vegetation remains intact, after just 230 years…

Retaining our precious indigenous plants, is the key to retaining our indigenous animals, and bio-diversity. It is for these reasons, and the enthusiasm of our Tuition Class students, and YBS members, that the monastery joined up with Strathfield Council in their National Tree Day activity in July 2001.

Joint efforts with Strathfield Council, now provide properly-instructed, monthly, botany, bio-diversity, and bushcare activities for the monastery's Tuition Class students. Each student from Year 7 to Year 11 is expected to participate in at least one bushcare activity per year. 

With many Sydney children now growing up confined in flats or units, these activities sometimes represent their first real exposure to gardening, nature, and wichetty-grubs ! We can tell you, the students do appreciate worthwhile, teamwork activities outside the classroom like this. We would like to acknowledge their great interest, and help, in supporting this activity.

Students and YBS members have helped regenerate small pockets of remnant Strathfield bushland, as part of Council's policy to try and create wildlife corridors within the municipality. They have already completed significant plantings at Mason Park Wetlands in North Strathfield, Dean Reserve and Maria Reserve next to the Cooks River, and Airey Reserve in Homebush over the past few years.

Native grasses of the Sydney area.

If you live in Sydney, we hope you will help sustain, and preserve, the botanical heritage for our younger generation. Why not design your gardens, using any of the 2,000 indigenous plants of Sydney ? Not only are Sydney plants beautiful, they require no watering once established. Here is a list of indigenous vegetation by Sydney suburb if you need it:

Sydney vegetation list by suburb.xls (337 kb)   

Animal and plant species all around the world are threatened by modern man's activities. While we encourage Sydney students to look after the plants of the Sydney botanical provenance, we hope students of all other botanical provenances round the world will look after their heritage. 

This means that the students of Strathfield, Lidcombe, or Hornsby, or indeed New Zealand, Indonesia, or any other area, each have a small, but different part of the world's species to look after.

While we should accept that everything is subject to change, we should not ignore, nor condone, the killing of entire species of plants and animals. Nor should we accept or encourage wanton environmental destruction. 

For the last five years, we have been testing our Year 8 students on their practical bio-diversity knowledge. Their botanical education and preferences represent the future of Sydney's environment and botanical profile. How would you fare with the test we give our Year 8 students ?

2009 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (273 kb)

2008 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (321 kb)

2007 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (148 kb)

2006 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (243 kb)

2005 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (60 kb)

2004 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (78 kb)

2003 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (114 kb)

2002 Year 8 Aussie Biodiversity Test and Results (100 kb)

  A spider hangs tenuously to its web, just as Sydney people hang on tenuously to their water supplies. Australian CSIRO scientists know global warming is likely to adversely affect Sydney's rainfall and finite water resources in the future. Despite this, some people suggest Sydney should increase its population significantly. What do you think ?

Water Recycling

Australia is the driest continent on earth. Water is one of our most precious commodities. It is very important we use this community resource wisely. In view of this, the monastery has spent several thousands of dollars, ensuring that we are able to utilize our storm-water run-off, held in our 50,000 litre retention tanks. 

All around the world, access to clean water is becoming a greater problem, as our population increases.

As you go home today, look around the suburbs. Are we using our water properly ? Perhaps you might install a water tank or water retention system in your home ? Are you training our younger brothers and sisters how not to waste water in the kitchen, the bathroom, the laundry, in the garden, and on the car ? Perhaps you can make suggestions to your boss at work, on how to minimise use or minimise wastage of this precious resource ?

   Things that creep and crawl ...

Aussie Bodhi Tree

On a full moon night, in the fifth month of the year, about 2,560 years ago, the Buddha gained enlightenment. We know he was facing east, on the bank of the river Neranjara at Buddha-Gaya, sitting under the Bodhi tree - Ficus religiosa, known as the "Tree of Enlightenment". He was probably surrounded by elephant grass, in the tropical deciduous monsoon forests at Buddhagaya, in north-eastern India. The Buddha commented that the Bodhi tree had provided "coolness" during his quest for the Truth.

If the Buddha had found enlightenment in the Strathfield - Homebush area, he would not have been sitting under a ficus religiosa, but most likely a Turpentine - Syncarpia glomulifera, or a Broad-leaved Iron bark, - Eucalyptus fibrosa, or a smooth Barked Apple - Angophora costata, or a Prickly-leaved paperbark - Melaleuca Stephelioides, surrounded by Weeping Meadow grass - Microlena stipoides, and Kangaroo grass - Themeda australis. Possibly he may even have been sitting under a 500 year old Red Cedar Toona ciliata tree, which existed in the area before British settlement.  These types of trees and grasses would have provided a similar ambience and "coolness." 

Why not grow your own Aussie Bodhi tree ?

Sketch of a Eucalyptus viminalis tree by our Year 8 student.

   

   
 

 
 

 

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